


Happy Phantom

by paynesgrey



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-24
Updated: 2011-05-24
Packaged: 2017-10-19 18:48:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/204101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paynesgrey/pseuds/paynesgrey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He sees her in the crowd. The Doctor knows Rose Tyler has returned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Happy Phantom

**Author's Note:**

> Up to Series 5 canon. Written for a DW prompt fest at my personal journal, for [](http://apckrfan.livejournal.com/profile)[**apckrfan**](http://apckrfan.livejournal.com/).

He’s running down the streets, his eyes focused, never leaving that crop of blonde hair that’s fading into the crowd.

She turns slightly, hair still covering her face, but he knows it’s her. Rose Tyler.

“Doctor!” Amy and Rory are running behind him, trying to keep up. He doesn’t bother with them. He doesn’t need them right now; all he needs and wants is Rose, if she’s here.

She seems so far away, and he always seems to be running. The background blurs around him, and it annoys him at how many humans he has to shove through just to keep his eye on her and not lose hope.

How can she be here? It’s impossible. The parallel worlds between them are fixed, and she’s with his other self, and in this new incarnation, he should have forgotten it all by now, moved on, only he can’t. This is _Rose Tyler_ after all.

He’s coming closer to her, his eyes fixated on her pink hoodie and corn-colored hair. This isn’t a younger Rose. This is _his_ Rose, the older version, the one he had to leave in a far-off unimaginable place. But how? Why now?

The Doctor’s so close he can almost touch her, and when he holds out his hand, tugs her shoulder, the woman turns around looking like Rose, fading in his very grasp. He stands in the crowd, sweeping his frantic gaze around them all, seas of boring and strange people, with no sign of his Rose anywhere.

He’s already heading back to the TARDIS when Rory and Amy catch up. His mood sends them off, and Amy knows him well enough to leave him alone with his dizzying thoughts. She doesn’t even need to know the reason; his heart and thoughts are occupied elsewhere.

“So it is you,” a familiar voice says, and the Doctor feels his blood turning cold as he looks up into her face. He can’t believe it. Rose Tyler, his Rose, is leaning confidently against his TARDIS. “Nice bowtie.”

“Rose, how can you...” She renders him almost speechless. He’s so excited that he runs to her, ready to embrace her and spin her around in a warm hug, yet he sees that she’s not corporeal. His smile fades a little, but he’s glad to see her regardless of being unable to touch her.

“The universes are weak again, so I took my chance. I was curious... What’s wrong Doctor?” she asks, her ghost-like hand tracing over his cheek.

“It’s complicated. Cracks in time and space, but I’m fixing it,” he blathers, and her smile widens as he stares at her, bewildered and blessed.

“You always do,” she says.

“Rose, my dear Rose, may I ask, are you happy?” he asks, his tone soft.

She sighs and shrugs a little. “Yes, but I always wonder about you. Miss you, even when he’s right there beside me.”

The Doctor nods. “I...think about you too, Rose. Even when time is cracking apart,” he says, and he imagines her hand against his cheek, her face against his chest. He looks up and she seems even less solid, like a mere projection dulling into the darkest night.

“I have to go,” Rose says. “I just wanted to see you. I took a chance.”

“Any time, Rose Tyler,” the Doctor says breathlessly, laughing. She disappears after a breeze of a kiss, and the Doctor beams brightly. He turns from the TARDIS, skipping happily as he goes off to retrieve the Ponds.  



End file.
